The 'War On Terror' In An Era Of Crisis: A Critical Response

Programme and speakers:

10am
Registration

10:30am - 11am
New Foreign Policy: An Overview

Jonathon Shafi
Jonathon is a longstanding anti-war campaigner. He co-founded the Radical Independence Campaign in 2012 and has an interest in the development of social movements in Scotland and the UK since the Iraq war. He completed his dissertation on the subject of ‘terrorology’ and is a regular contributor on a range of media outlets covering Scottish politics and international affairs.

Natalia Farmer
Natalia is a PhD researcher from Glasgow Caledonian University. She has contributed key evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s newly published Equalities and Human Rights Committee report on the issue of destitution among asylum seekers. The report, entitled ‘Hidden Lives - New Beginnings: Destitution, asylum and insecure immigration status in Scotland’, emphasises that the Scottish Government, CoSLA and third sector partners need to consider providing a fully funded independent advocacy service for destitute asylum seekers and people with insecure immigration.

Isobel Lindsay (Chair)
Isobel is a leading member of Scottish CND. She is a veteran peace campaigner and a prominent and respected figure in Scottish politics where she has played an active role for many years. In 1960, she was a signatory to the Committee of 100 anti-war group and since then she has campaigned against war, Trident and NATO.

11am - 12:30pm
What is Islamaphobia? War, Counterterrorism and the State

David Miller
David is Professor of Sociology at the University of Bath. His research interests mainly revolve around the role of communication in the constitution and reproduction of power relations. He is the co-founder of Spin Watch. His research interests include: Terrorism, counter-terrorism, counterinsurgency, terrorism expertise, strategic communications, propaganda and psychological operations.

Smina Akhtar
Smina is a PhD researcher at the University of Bath where she is studying the impact of the Prevent strategy in Scotland. She has been politically active in Scotland for many years and has over 20 years of community development experience within housing and the Muslim community and voluntary sector.

Lindsey German
Lindsay is an author, broadcaster and campaigner. She is the convenor of the Stop the War Coalition UK and was a lead organiser of the February 15th anti-war demonstration in 2003. She has written numerous books and is a regular commentator on Radio 5 Live, Sky News and other media outlets.

Zahid Ali (Chair)
Zahid Ali is a presenter on Radio Ramadan.

1:15pm - 2:30pm
Authoritarian Agendas: Why we need to defend Civil Rights and Political Freedom

Aamer Anwar
Aamer was recently elected Rector of Glasgow University. He has been active in anti-war and anti-racist politics in a range of campaigns and movements. He is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s top human rights lawyers. He has campaigned for the closure of Dungavel and for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, against war and for civili liberties.

Narzanin Massoumi
Narzain is a political sociologist of race, social movements and counter terrorism, with a particular focus on the context of the 'War on Terror'. Current research interests include the impact of counter terrorism policy and practice on UK higher education. Previous research the social production of terrorism expertise across the domains of government policy, academia, media and criminal justice proceedings. She is the author of: Muslim Women, Social Movements and the 'War on Terror.’

Debora Keyembe
Debora was called to the Congolese Bar Association in 2000 and has remained a member of the same bar to this day. She has been a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting since 2010 and joined the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA) in 2016. Her linguist profession led her to create her own linguistic company in 2009, serving international organisations in the USA, UK and Europe by helping refugees and asylum seekers to settle within various resettlement programs as well as supporting victims of war crimes. She joined Scottish Refugee Council in 2013 through the Refugee Speaker programme, and in August 2016 Debora joined the Royal Society of Edinburgh / Young Academy of Scotland representing refugee minorities.

Stephen Smellie
Stephen is the co-convenor of Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan. In addition to speaking on this issue he has organised delegations from Scotland. He is Depute Convenor of Unison Scotland.

Henry Maitles (Chair)
Henry is Assistant Dean (Education) at the University of West Scotland. He researches and teaches in the area of citizenship and values and in particular the impact of citizenship initiatives in the schools. He was a member of the Scottish Executive Review Group which drew up the proposals for Education for Citizenship which is a policy priority in all Scottish schools. He is on the editorial boards of Educational Review, Genocide Studies and Prevention and Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies.

2:45pm - 4pm
Tell Me No Lies: Reporting War and Terrorism

Tom Mills
Tom Mills is the Researcher on the ESRC funded project, 'Understanding and explaining terrorism expertise in practice'. His PhD examines how the end of social democracy and the rise of neoliberalism impacted on the BBC. His research interests include: Terrorism, counter-terrorism, counterinsurgency, terrorism expertise, media, communications, neoliberalism and corporate power.

Alison Balharry
Allison has worked for a range of media outlets including the BBC World Service and Al Jaezeera. She covered the Iraq war from CentCom, the central press centre operated by the United States. With this background she offers an expert view of media communications in relation to reporting conflict.

Robert Somynne (Chair)
Robert is an observer of politics in the Persian Gulf and Arab peninsular. He has written for Al Monitor, Bahrain Watch, The New Arab, Press TV and Arab News on the historic and contemporary relationship between the west and specifically Iran. He is undertaking a diploma in Persian studies at the Tehran Institute, BIPS.

4:15pm - 5pm
The Terror Axis: ISIS and the Far-Right

Neil Davidson
Neil is the author of numerous books and articles, writing for a range of outlets. He is a frequent public speaker on a variety of topics. His primary research interests Nationalism (with special reference to Scotland), neoliberalism, the sociology of revolution, uneven and combined development, contemporary class structure, and far-right parties and movements. He lectures in sociology at Glasgow University.

Shaykh Ruzwan Mohammed.
Ruzwan is a graduate in Geopolitics and Arabic from the University of Glasgow, in 1993 he left to travel and study with a wide array of leading scholars and theologians in various countries in the Muslim world. He is a regular panellist on shows such as BBC One’s “The Big Question”, BBC radio 4’s religious analysis programmes, and is a contributor to national Scottish newspapers and magazines. He also serves as an advisor to various Muslim educational organisations in the United Kingdom and is actively involved in interfaith work, as well as wider social issues, lobbying on climate change and combating poverty.

Celia McKeon
Celia is a Fellow with the Social Change Initiative, and coordinator of Rethinking Security – a network of NGOs, academics and activists who are concerned about current policies and narratives on security in the UK, and keen to promote debate about and support for alternatives. She has twenty years’ experience in supporting peacebuilding initiatives in the context of violent conflicts, including in Colombia, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, and the post-Yugoslav states. She has previously worked as Assistant Trust Secretary at the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and as Policy Director at Conciliation Resources.

Eileen Cook (Chair)
Eileen is a long standing peace activist and secretary of Edinburgh CND.

5:15pm - 5:30pm
Closing Plenary: Our Mission